Nikkei ends higher in a cautious trade

HIK, Seoul, Taipei, surge on U.S. rate cut hopes

MarikoAndo

TOKYO (CBS.MW) -- Hopes for a cut in U.S. interest rates cut provided buying impetus for several Japanese exporters' shares on Wednesday, but Tokyo's Nikkei and Topix stock benchmarks ended mixed.

But stock prices finished well off highs amid lingering jitters over the deflating domestic economy and Japan's ailing bank.

Meanwhile, markets in South Korea and Taiwan rallied, as sentiment toward shares of chip, computer and telecom companies was buoyed by the U.S. Nasdaq's five-day winning streak.

Hong Kong also rose, led by a surge in Henderson Investment shares after its parent announced a plan to buy back its investment arm.

The dollar firmed to 122.45 yen in Asian dealings, from 121.85 yen in New York late Tuesday.

Although the Nikkei briefly dipped into a negative territory in the afternoon, it closed higher a third straight day, up 15.73 points, or 0.2 percent, to 8,953.29. At one stage the Nikkei hit 9,100.68, its highest intraday level in two weeks.

Henderson surges in HK

Henderson Investment shares soared 21.8 percent to HK$7.25 after its parent Henderson Land said it plans to buy the part of Henderson Investment (0097)
HDVTY, +0.00%
that it does not already own for HK$7.35 per share, or a total cost of HK$5.49 billion. Henderson Land, one of Hong Kong's biggest property firms, now holds 73.48 percent of Henderson Investment.

Hong Kong's monetary policy tends to follow that of the U.S. as the local currency is pegged to the greenback.

Seoul, Taipei

In Seoul, the Kospi gained 2.7 percent to close at a 7-week high of 682.56 points. Trading opened one hour later than usual to ease traffic congestion and help students taking college entrance exams to get to their test sites on time.

Technology issues drew buying on hopes that an expected rate cut would help an economic recovery in the U.S. the region's largest trade partner.

News Corp. jumps 8.7%

As expected, the Australian central bank left the official cash rate unchanged at 4.75 percent after its monthly board meeting. The decision brought little impact to the market.

The All Ordinaries Index advanced 0.9 percent to 3,036 points, helped by a rally in News Corp. shares.

News
NWS, +0.63%
shot up 8.7 percent to A$12.31. Buying orders flooded in after the media titan, which owns the Fox television network
FOX, +0.60%
reported a net profit of $162 million in the first quarter ended September 30. The results marked a 122 percent increase compared with a profit of $73 million posted in the year-ago period.

Operating income grew 51 percent to $548 million while sales increased 12 percent to $3.81 billion, said the company.

"Operating income growth of 51 percent - generated across nearly all of our key operating segments - reflects not only the resurgence of the advertising market but, more important for the future, the underlying health of out assets," said the company's chairperson Rupert Murdoch in a statement.

New Zealand's NZSE 40 Index closed up 0.4 percent at 1,983.97.

Telecom NZ
NZT, -2.01%
climbed 3.8 percent to NZ$4.9, bouncing back from Tuesday's near 10-percent plunge after it warned its first quarter result would miss analysts' estimates. See full story.

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